Eyes of God
by JiraiyaTheGallant
Summary: Rinnegan, the eyes of God. How can Naruto learn to harness this power when not one person with these eyes can teach him? With Jiraya's help, can he change the destiny of the shinobi world? Strong, but realistically strong Naruto. Rinnegan Naruto.
1. Ch1: Inheritance

**Eyes of God**

**Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.**

**A/N: Thank you for clicking on this story. I hope it doesn't dissappoint, and I promise that it will escalate into an epic tale from such a humble beginning. With your help and support, of course. If you find anything wrong, don't hesitate to let me know. Jiraiya will be slightly more knowledgable about the Rinnegan, but I stay true to my summary.**

"Speaking"

'Thinking' or emphasis

**"Demon speaking"**

**'Demon thinking'**

_flashback_

**Jutsu**

**Ch1: Inheritance**

A soft breeze rustled the trees, scattering a few leaves on the ground. As the leaves fell, a blond spiky haired boy no older than eight sat on a swing, head looking down on the ground. Their shadows, their eyes, seemed to mock him, hate his anything about his existence. It was at night that he had any kind of escape, only to wallow on the swing in misery.

Uzumaki Naruto was no ordinary academy student, he was far less carefree. Sure, he'd maintain his idiotic, dumb persona to keep away the glares, thinking that pranks and foolish acts will cause people to see him as anything other than a demon. Why did they hate him so much? Maybe it was his eyes.

Yes, he thought that was why. They signaled him out, made him a freak in the opinion of the village. A metallic purple-blue, four rings clearly visible around a black pupil. Clearly unusual. His surrogate grandfather, the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had repeatadly assured him that they just made him special, no reason to let the civilians' hate influence his life. Special. Yeah. What would Sarutobi know?

For one thing, though, the Hokage knew more about Naruto than the boy himself knew. He did some digging and found what those eyes were, the legendary Rinnegan, but nothing was known about them. Hiruzen was also awake of Naruto's parentage, a complicated affair indeed.

Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, was Naruto's father, and resemblance they had was absolutely uncanny. Though the eyes did not match, the boy had grown his hair long to hide his Rinnegan, resulting in long spiky bangs and two strands of sunny blond hair framing his round face. They even had the same look when they thought, face hardening in sheepish confusion. Hiruzen was aware of Naruto's façade, his true personality, and it was darker than Minato's by far. Truly, the boy was quiet and calculative, yet so oblivious to anything blaringly obvious that it was ridiculous. But not ignorant to the hate and resentment of the civilians, young and old.

It made the old kage smile how Naruto's fake enthusiasm was exactly like his mother's. Uzumaki Kushina often pranked people she didn't like, or that she did, and shouted at anyone who insulted her. Called the 'Red Hot Habanero' by the entire academy, her fiery temperament lived up to the name. She beat up those who insulted her scarlet red hair and wouldn't let anyone talk down to her. A stand up personality, much like how he had observed Naruto standing up for the Hyuuga heiress when she was insulted by bullies.

Hiruzen was close with both of them, well more so than he was with most of the jounin of the village. He knew plenty about the couple, including what happened on the night of Naruto's birth. The same night as the Kyuubi attack.

Thus, this begins the second truth of the young boy, that he was the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki, a term that meant 'the power of human sacrifice'. On that night, Minato sacrificed his life to seal the fox into his only child, preventing any further destruction. He also had a secondary goal, unknown to Hiruzen, to protect the future from a masked man, Uchiha Madara, so he thought. Little did the Yondaime known that Naruto would hold a power far more powerful than the Kyuubi.

Naruto thought very little about all of this, ignorant of certain truths, as he dangled his small legs off the swing. Only sometimes would he wonder who his parents were, but thinking make their absence hurt more, so he stopped. His blue ripple eyes glowed softly in the dark air, barely visible under his long bangs. Sometimes, sinister nights like this would remind him of the time he awakened his eyes.

**Flashback**

_A six year old Naruto was sleeping peacefully in his dump of an apartment. Cups of ramen were scattered on the floor, littering the already dirty carpet. Naruto owned a miniature kitchen, it was comparable to the size of a toilet stall. Apart from that, there was a ratty chair, a small table, and a futon to sleep. Azure blue eyes closed, the boy slept, wondering what the academy was going to be like._

_Footsteps resounded lightly through the room. A breeze rolled in from the newly opened window. Something was wrong, the boy panicked as he eyes snapped open wide._

_A shadow! Sword sailing towards Naruto's throat, the man screamed. "DIE!"_

_Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the flash of steel, he was going to die. He felt a pulse, as if his body heat was radiating outwards, and a sharp pain in his eyes, forcing him to close them._

_"**Shinra Tensei!**" He exclaimed. The normally deep blue eyes rippled, the black dot in the center sending a wave across the iris. Blue was replaced with purple, rings formed within a matter of milliseconds._

_The shadowed man gasped, thrown back from Naruto's bedside into the wall, crashing into it with a loud thud. It dented, and the man fell face first onto the carpet. Naruto felt dizzy, faint, confused. While his head swam with vertigo, he tried to piece together what happened. The man, motionless on his floor, tried to kill him? But why?_

_Naruto stood up, still in his pajamas, and stumbled towards the man. His eyes hurt, not in an unbearable pain, but in more of a constant throbbing, like something was stuck there that wanted to escape. The young jinchuuriki had no idea that this was actually chakra, fueled by his inner anger and rage, that wanted to blast the man into bits. He didn't know how he pushed the man across the room, but it took restraint not to give into his urges and do it again._

_Pacifist by heart, he did not understand the man's motives. "Mister... Why would you..." There was no answer._

_There couldn't be an answer, the man was knocked out on his floor. The blond boy studied the intruders dark brown, nearly black, hair that was stained red in places by fresh blood. He was wearing shinobi gear, that for an old genin. One that didn't have enough prowess to ever make chuunin._

_Wide eyed, Naruto looked at who he had just defeated, before the dizziness returned again, stronger than before. His head twisted downwards to the left, trying to focus on one point of the floor. Uncessessfuly. He felt as if he was flipping head over heels as he looked at the carpeted floor. Head resting against the wall, he slumped sideways. His eyes fluttered, bearly remaining open, as he decided to let darkness overcome his vision._

_What happened next, he couldn't recall._

**End Flashback**

After that had happened, Hiruzen, acting as Naruto's kind guardian, told him that everything was fine. The assailant was arrested, ANBU operatives had gotten there in time since they often would check up on the boy. The Hokage reminded Naruto that the civilians and some less logical shinobi didn't view him as they should. There was another hollow promise to fix it.

The one thing that was largely left unspoken was Naruto's eyes. Not many knew of the Rinnegan, it was a lost legend, only heard of by a few jounin, a couple ANBU, Jiraiya, and Hiruzen himself. All that the Hokage disclosed to the boy was that his eyes changed. Naruto wasn't even aware of the fact until the old man pointed it out. Secretly, Hiruzen hoped that keeping the boy in the dark would also keep other villages from finding out about Naruto's new bloodline. Kumo would have been horrendous.

Since that incident, assassination attempt, Naruto hadn't been the same. He was far more paranoid, spending a good amount of free time each day training to protect himself. He hadn't figured out how he hurt his attacker, yet, so he did physical strengthening and tried to work on taijutsu. Ever since he received the dojutsu, civilians had been looking at him with more than ignorant looks, he could see hatred etched into their faces. Instead of only shunning him, they sometimes went out of their way to insult the boy. No more physical attacks happened, thankfully, but that was likely the work of Hiruzen. His eyes were just another reason for people to laugh at him and reject him. Did he hate his eyes? No, they were a part of him. He had to believe that everything was going to get better.

Every day and many long nights, Naruto sat on this swing, remembering his past and considering his future.

Everything had to get better, right? He could stop all the hate once he was Hokage. Only that, to be that strong, he had to appear as weak and not give the haters a reason to kick the 'demon child' out of the village for being too strong. He found that, ever since his brush with death, he had intimate knowledge of an energy flow within his body and slightly increased physical strength. Even without a comprehensive taijutsu style, he trained for hours on end with little break, now that he was eight years old he needed to take care of himself.

He stood up from the swing, the bright moon and twinkling stars telling him it was too late to be outside. After all, he had to wake up early for the academy, he'd 'hate' to miss if. Iruka-sensei may be the only teacher who somewhat connected with him, but the man was still that, one teacher. Often, Mizuki-sensei would force him into humiliation or pain. Yes, the academy was a tough place for the blond jinchuuriki, a necessary place all the same.

He walked through the deserted streets, depressed, tired, hair hanging in front of his face as he focused on the ground. No one was outside save those who were going to or from small bars situated around the city. He continued walking until he came upon a particularly interesting place, and decided to look through their window.

There were a few people sitting up on a bar, laughing heartily at someone joke. Naruto saw someone with jagged white hair down his back, a sannin? No, the teachers always pegged him as a war hero, so why would he be in such a crappy bar drinking his heart out with two women at his side. The pseudo-Sannin turned his head, staring straight at the boy.

Naruto jumped, quickly moving away from the window before sneaking another glance in the room. Phew, he was safe. Maybe it was time to go to his apartment.

He continued walking home, upset that he wasn't old enough to forget his troubles over alcohol.

* * *

Jiraiya, Legendary Toad Sage, self-proclaimed the most powerful of the Sannin, was enjoying a nice drink at a ratty bar. He didn't go there often, but it was where the sexiest women and most hilarious guys resided. If you looked past the cobwebs and poorly made drinks, it wasn't too bad a place. He laughed loudly at a man's joke, wrapping his arm around a woman to his left. His waist-length spiky white hair swung to the side as he turned to the woman and tried to give her a kiss.

With barely any time to widen his eyes in fear, the woman drew back her hand and slapped him across the face, making the man who told the joke to chuckle even louder. Red handprint on his face, Jiraiya cried comical tears.

The woman poked him in the cheek. "Not in public, Jiraiya," she giggled. Okay, there was a very likely chance that he'd have a fun night. "I'll be right back," she grinned, making him give her a lecherous smile in return as she got up.

He turned back to his drink when the woman was in the bathroom, only to notice a funny reflection in his glass. Two purple-blue ringed eyes were looking at him. After rubbing his own eyes, the Rinnegan was still staring at him, wavy in the reflection.

"Dammit Nagato," he mumbled under his breath, "I didn't do anything to you..." The man raised an eyebrow at the Sannin's inaudible mumbles.

Suddenly starting to feel a bit paranoid, Jiraiya twisted his head at the window. In the darkness were a paid of almost glowing ringed eyes hidden under silouetted hair. "Nagato?" He murmured again. But the boy across the glass seemed startled, turned away quickly.

Then it hit him, that wasn't Nagato. He wasn't drunk enough not to trust his vision, and his vision clearly showed him a boy with the Rinnegan, but instead of the flat, long hair, it was spiky and messy. Should he go after the kid? He already had enough obligations to Konoha's spy network. Besides, Tsunade would kill him for corrupting a young child.

But could have lived with himself? Could he really abandon someone when they needed help?

His mind was decided, he knew he had to follow what morals he set in place. This kid could just be a gift from Kami to help him do some right in this world. He paid for his drink, giving the bartender a warm thanks, and left without another sound. As a legendary shinobi, he'd have thought it was easy to find one small boy in a village. Not as much so when that boy disappeared the moment he went to search. What if those eyes were merely a figment of his imagination?

He tried to focus, where could the kid be? It was dead silent outside, excluding the muffled words spoken in the dimly lit bar he just exited. Closing his eyes with focus, he could hear a quiet pitter patter of feet in the distance. 'Found you.' Without a noise from his large sandels, the toad sage dashed through the dark streets towards the only noise he heard. As he strained his ears and passed multiple apartment buildings into the residential district, the other person's running got louder and louder. He turned out of an ally, onto the next street just in time to catch another glimpse of the boy.

Against the light of a building, he noticed that the kid, he thought it was still the same one from before, was a blond very similar to his student Minato. 'I feel like I've seen him before,' Jiraiya thought. Now where was this Minato-like blond going? All alone in this awful apartment complex?

Jiraiya walked into the complex, looking at the receptionist. The man was probably mid 40's, and he had a scar running across his left cheek right next to his nose. "I'm looking for someone," he said, elaborating on the man's unspoken question.

"And why should I help you?"

The sage put on a ridiculous grin and held out a hand to the front of his face, striking a pose. In a loud voice he proclaimed, "I'm Jiraiya, Legendary Toad Sage, and Most Amazing of the Sannin! I don't need reasons!"

The man snorted. "Yeah right..." Jiraiya's expression fell. He held back a loud laugh at the man's idiocy.

"I'm looking for a blond kid, about yey high," he held a hand to his stomach. "He's got blue ringed eyes. I think he just came in."

Jiraiya could swear he heard the man mutter "demon" under his beath, but he brushed it off as either the wind or something else. "Uzumaki Naruto?" The man asked, frowning at the person who claimed to be a Sannin.

"Naruto?" Jiraiya wondered out loud. 'Minato's kid?' He thought, puzzled look on his face. The man must have gotten it wrong, Naruto was being well taken care of by his sensei, Sarutobi Hiruzen, not living in some dirty area of Konoha. And, really, its not like the boy would ever have the Rinnegan, that's just ridiculous. Maybe it was worth it to finally get a glimpse of his godson for the first time in three years.

"Third door on the right. Fourth floor. I don't know who you are, but if anything happens I'll complain to the poli-" wait, the Uchiha were all dead. "I'll do something..." He sighed, pulling out a cigarette and breathing out a cloud of smoke. Man, did the night shift stir up some weird characters...

"Thanks!" Jiraiya waved and ran outside. The man raised an eyebrow, but then placed his head in his hands and fell asleep.

Meanwhile, in his room, Naruto took off his ugly orange jumpsuit, he only wore it to make people think he was an idiot. An idiot couldn't be dangerous to the villagers, but a smart, strong 'demon' would be. According to them at least. Under the jumpsuit he wore a white shirt with the orange Uzumaki swirl, he had assumed that it wasn't just an honorary title after many long years. He reasoned that they wouldn't give him the surname of a powerful, newly dead clan.

He kicked an empty ramen cup in annoyance, watching as it sailed across the room and hit the wall he broke two years ago. Suddenly, he felt a presence, he didn't how or why, just a paranoia that he was being watched.

"Fine weather we're having," someone commented. Naruto whirled around and saw the white haired man from earlier sitting in his windowsill. He had red markings by his eyes, stretching to his cheek and a wide grin on his face. On his forehead was a metal plate with two small horns and the kanji for 'oil.'

"Who are you!"

Jiraiya reached out to pat the boy's hair, but his hand was slapped away. It was true, he realized, this boy did have the Rinnegan, and he had the six whiskers on his face, three on each side, meaning he was in fact Naruto. Something weird was going on here.

Jiraiya gave him another big grin. "I'd do my normal introduction, but I doubt that'll help to much. I'm Jiraiya, Sannin of Konoha. You are Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Yeah. You're a Sannin?!" Naruto looked at him in a mixture of awe and confusion. A Sannin was visiting him, why? Not only was completely worthless, according to most, he also had problems seeing what such a reputable man would want with him. Yeah, he had become far less trustworthy than his former self, it was only logical. The man was probably there to kill him.

"The one and only Legendary Toad Sage!"

"Why would you care about me?" Naruto, still sitting on his messy bed, looked down on the ground in depression.

"Those eyes are special. I gotta ask, how did you get the Rinnegan?"

"The what?" Naruto muttered, looking up at the man. No one called his eyes special besides the Sandaime. Freaky or dumb usually fit the description.

Jiraiya was dumbfounded. The boy didn't even know which dojutsu he'd been displaying for multiple years! "The Rinnegan. It's a legendary kekkei genkai. I only know of two others who had that specific dojutsu."

"Who?" Naruto was interested.

"The Rikudou-sennin and another student of mine, Nagato."

The young jinchuuriki gave the sage a puzzled gaze. "Who were they?"

"Sweet Kami, kid! I thought people read kids stories about the Rikudou-sennin!" Exclaimed the white haired shinobi.

"Nobody ever bothered to read me a story..." Naruto replied, once again fixing his gaze on the carpet.

Jiraiya was lost, completely and utterly. His sensei forgot to inform Naruto of what the Rinnegan was, and Naruto had never received any kind of love? That was madness. He thought that Naruto had been placed in the orphanage with that nice woman, and he'd only have his own apartment when he became a genin. Sure, Jiraiya couldn't be there for Naruto, though he thought his sensei would have shown a little more compassion. After all of that 'Will of Fire' inspiration and Jiraiya's belief of peace, he thought someone would have at least raised Naruto.

"Oh..." He didn't know what to do. He was a shinobi, not a father! Secretly, he knew he wasn't responsible enough to have kids. He'd pretend that he was responsible, but people like Tsunade or Orochimaru knew just how immature he could be. What kind of negative influence would he have on kids?

That would change.

He could change.

"You never had anyone to look after you?" He asked. Sometimes, he thought he made conversations awkward by learning so much about people with very little talking. Often, he scared people by being able to tell them a great deal of how their life was without it ever being mentioned. Being the puppetmaster of a spy network had its merits.

"Well, Jiji was there... Sometimes," Naruto amended. Could he confide in this man? He claimed to be a Sannin and seemed trustworthy. Nevermind that, he had to spill out his feelings before he exploded like an overpressurized balloon. "The civilians hate me! I don't know why, but every time they look at me the-"

He felt a hand grab his shoulder. "I'm sorry. Say, Naruto, how is the academy going?" Guilt gripped him again, for not telling the boy why he was so hated.

Naruto bit his lip at that. The cesspool of bullies and asshats, yeah, that was definitely a good place for him to learn. "The teachers won't teach me, the other kids bully me, and I can't let anyone know that I'm smart, or strong, or a good fighter, they'd just get in a big group and beat me senseless. And if I fought back Jiji would be mad, so I just stay dead last as if I'm stupid."

"I'm proud!"

"What?!"

Jiraiya explained. "I assume you wear that orange jumpsuit there and act like an idiot." He pointed at it to emphasize the point.

"How did you-"

"I'm a Sannin!" He interrupted. "You can't hide anything from me. Besides, like my godson would ever be stupid. With those eyes, you're probably far smarter and more skilled than you let even the Hokage know!"

'My godfather is a Sannin!' Naruto thought dreamily. 'So my parents probably weren't thieves or scum like everyone said! And he's complimenting me!' This was like a dream come true for Naruto, no one ever cared for him or bothered to see past his mask. The fact that his godfather thought he was smart went miles for the boy's happiness and self-esteem. Iruka-sensei 'said' that he believed in Naruto, he was warming up to the boy, but he was still oblivious to the blond's pain.

Naruto paused, frowning slightly. "Wait, you keep talking about my eyes. What exactly is a kekkei genkai? I know a dojutsu is like the Sharingan, Iruka-sensei told us so, but he never talked about 'bloodlines.' What is the Rinnegan, Jiraiya-oji?"

"Uncle Jiraiya? I like it," commented the Sannin as he thought about the first question. What had the academy's standards gone to? Only mentioning the Sharingan breifly but not even talking about kekkei genkais? Ludicrous.

"Hmm, you see Naruto, a kekkei genkai, or bloodline trait, is an ability passed down by inheritance. They can involve mixing multiple elemental affinities, like Hashirama-sama's Mokuton, or the Hyōton, or they can be a dojutsu like the Sharingan. Kekkei genkais can also come in different forms, such as the Kaguya clan's Shikotsumyaku (Dead Bone Pulse)." Naruto soaked up the information over a few seconds, pausing to let his lethargic mind wake up a bit more with the information.

"Cool. What's an elemental affinity? And if they each have abilities, what does the Rinnegan do?"

"There are five main elemental release jutsu types: Katon, Suiton, Doton, Raiton, and Fūton. Hashirama-sama's Mokuton mixes Doton and Suiton together, for example."

"Meh, that isn't such a tough thing. Why can't they just say that at the academy," he wondered aloud.

"I know, right! They're getting sloppy with education, but you don't need to hear about politics, it'll probably go right over your head. After all, you're what, eight? Anyways, the Rinnegan. I've only seen it one other time in person. My student, Nagato, had the dojutsu and was able to use all six elemental releases."

Whoa, that was so cool. Naruto could use all six elemental releases! Wait, "Six? Didn't you say there were five?"

"Ying-yang release is the sixth. Nagato used it in the form of a gravitational pulse. That is only one of the six paths of the Rinnegan."

"Only one?!" Naruto gasped in awe. It already sounded like a mythical dojutsu, and he had it. He could definitely become strong enough to stop all the civilians from hating him or anyone else!

"Yes, I'll teach you about some of the other five if you accept my proposition," Jiraiya replied, grin returning to his once serious face. He couldn't fail Naruto like he had Nagato. It was quite possible that he had received another chance to train the 'child of prophecy', and this time he wouldn't let Konoha's politics get in the way.

"Proposition?"

"Do you want to leave the village and train under me? I know that you don't really know me yet, but that's going to to change. I was picked by your parents as your godfather for a reason, and I plan to be the person that I should have been for the past eight years."

Naruto hardly needed any more incentive to escape the village. Whether it was his sluggish brain that had overflowed from too much information, preventing him from thinking clearly, or his true desires, it wasn't a tough decision at all.

"Of course I'll leave with you, Jiraiya-oji!"

"Be ready in the morning."

The shinobi world was full of change, which happened in the blink of an eye, unpredictable like a lightning strike. It appeared erratic, random, able to appear anywhere that you could think. If you took a long lighting rod and stabbed it into the ground, however, you could effectively control where that lightning went. Similarly, one could take the initiative to do something unexpected, changing the unpredictability of the future. A choice that can alter destiny.

Jiraiya had made one such choice.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen was working late. Sure, he could have gone home, but there was so much information to sort through from Jiraiya's spy network. On top of that, he had even more papers for education reform scattered across his desk. Some from clan shinobi, claiming that academy became to soft, and some from civilians, claiming it was rigged for clan children. He'd just reject all of them again, the academy was fine how it already was. It was nights like this, stuck in his office, that he would think about Naruto, if he did the right thing.

By nature, Hiruzen was a kindhearted individual who would give anything for the preservation of the Will of Fire. So why would he feel so guilty at letting hatred towards one blond boy go unpunished? It was simple, the minority is always subject to the will of the majority. He couldn't stand to see all of his village at odds, hating or praising him for defending the boy, so he swept it under the table and kept it quiet. Not even Iruka, Naruto's sensei, was aware of all the negative emotions.

But then Naruto had manifested the Rinnegan. How, he didn't know. Why, he couldn't be sure. Nonetheless, it had happened, he couldn't change that, making Naruto a future asset for the village. It took all of his power to keep Danzo's paws off the boy and leave him to a normal childhood, but to no avail. He was sure that he fucked up somewhere. Naruto wasn't the fun-loving child that he was familiar with, he could see past that façade now. While appearing dumb, Naruto was smarter than ever, well, as smart as the average ten year old or so, and more hurt inside than it appeared possible. It was unfortunate that Hiruzen didn't know that Naruto received much worse academic training than that of the other students, not even learning the proper academy style taijutsu.

He brushed his mind off the topic, it wasn't like he could change it, anyways.

He apathetically heard a window slide open from behind him. "Come in Jiraiya-kun," he commanded.

The large man jumped in, over his desk in a blur, and stood across from him. "Aww, Sensei, you're no fun anymore." Hiruzen rolled his eyes.

"What do you need, Jiraiya-kun? You already dropped off the spy reports, and, may I add, they were quiet helpful."

Jiraiya features hardened, turning into an amalgamation of seriousness and disgust that puzzled the old kage. "How could you!?"

"What?" Hiruzen was trying to puzzle out what had Jiraiya in such a mood.

"Naruto has the Rinnegan, and he is hated by the entire village! When did you think that telling me my own godson was in trouble was relevant?" The toad sage screamed in anger.

"I did what was best for him!" Hiruzen stood up, only a few inches short of Jiraiya. He exhertered all the authority he had in that exclamation to calm down his student. It didn't work.

"Yeah, what was best for him. Leave him clueless about a legendary dojutsu and wondering why no one read him bedtime stories as a child. You really screwed up there. He should be living with you, if you care so much, not in some rundown apartment. I can understand you not mentioning that he's a jinchuuriki, but did you ever venture to think about his mental health? He has a huge inferiority complex, feeling he has something to prove while having to appear like an idiot to not get beat up. How does that make sense to you, you old goat?!"

"Calm down Jiraiya! There was nothing I could do. If I gave Naruto to any of the clans, the balance of power would be upset, and people would get angry and ask questions. If I let him stay with me, they'll think he's getting special treatment. If I tell him about his dojutsu, he might go blabbing to the wrong civilian. Kami knows what Kumo or Iwa would do if they found out one of our young students has the Rinnegan. Think about the village for a second, Jiraiya-kun, and realize how little of a say I had in the situation," Hiruzen reasoned, trying to keep the man from fuming away. He couldn't lose his last student after Tsunade and Orochimaru practically abandoned Konoha.

Jiraiya scowled. "This village was built on the principle that everyone get treated fairly. Have you grown so powerless in your senile old age that the civilian council can question your decisions? This a military dictatorship, it matters not if the civilians are upset for a day or two that one of their own was jailed for mentally screwing up a little boy. My godson. I may not have been there for him, but I have a legitimate excuse. You have none."

"You're not thinking straight, Jiraiya-kun. Don't let anger blind you."

"I can see straighter than I have in years. There is a boy out there that has the potential to bring peace to the nations, yet he is treated like dirt for factors out of his control. Face it, you were wrong. I'm claiming custody of Uzumaki Naruto as his godfather, whether you like it or not." Jiraiya slammed pappers on his desk, filled out and signed custody forms. Hiruzen was broken inside, his final student hated him too. Could he have done anything right instead of focusing on the whole?

It was a tragic moment, Jiraiya walking past him to leave out the window.

"Wait, Jiraiya-kun." The man stopped. "You're right, I was being a fool, too far set in my ideals to see what was in front of my face the entire time, but not even I can change the past.

"When will Naruto be back?"

Jiraiya gave him a forced smile, figuring that he was too hard on his sensei. The old man was just doing what he thought was best. "I'll be back in time for the chuunin exams in four years. Trust me, by that time he will be a formidable shinobi, worthy of his father's legacy." The Sannin left, leaving a candle flickering in the darkness as Hiruzen sat alone.

That boy had promise to do great things.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! This story may seem generic, but I promise that I will put my own spin on the traditional Rinnegan Naruto. All critique and input is accepted, and everything that makes sense will be looked at. I really hope I didn't screw Jiraiya's character too much...**

**Jiraiya out**


	2. Ch2: It Begins

**Eyes of a God**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto in any way, shape, or form**

**A/N: Thanks for all the support last chapter, even though very few people ended up actually visiting the story. That's alright cause I hope things stay interesting this chapter and go in accordance to how you guys hoped. **

"Speaking"

'Thinking' or emphasis

**"Demon speaking"**

**'Demon thinking'**

_flashback_

**Jutsu**

**Ch2: It Begins**

* * *

A pair of ringed purple eyes stared at the array of colors over the horizon. Early in the morning, the sun, a sliver in the distance, lit up the normally blue sky with a variety of vibrant yellows, reds, and oranges. Birds chirped from the treetops along the path leading from the gate. The two eternal chuunin, Izumo and Kotetsu, had dozed off at their normal posts, facing opposite sides of the gate. Had he known the word, Naruto would have called the morning an auspicious one. Content with the lack of attention towards him, the blond boy sat on the ground and looked at the sun rising from the trees, waiting.

"Jiraiya-oji said he'd be here," he mumbled incoherently to himself as he began to feel sleepy. He hadn't so much as rested for the entire night, too exited for his future. It seemed impossible, escape, freedom, but it was happening. Nobody had to hate him or try to hurt him ever again. Of course, that was simply the musings of a young kid, he wasn't fully aware of the dangers of travelling with a Sannin. Or with the meaning of being a powerful and important shinobi, which was his dream.

Unable to stop himself, Naruto closed his Rinnegan eyes and let sleep was over him.

Jiraiya arrived at the gate far later than expected. How was he to know that there was far more paperwork than the sheets he'd thrown at his sensei in order to adopt an eight year old boy. Then he had to endure the civilian council... That was possibly one of the most infuriating and annoying things he'd ever experienced short of dealing with Orochimaru when they were genin.

The stupid council couldn't make up their mind. One moment, an idiotic council member was thanking him then Danzō had objected. The civilian council, weak minded idiots that they were, immediately agreed with Danzō without a reason. Money, power? Who cared, it made Jiraiya and Hiruzen, yeah he sided with his student after seeing how he wronged Naruto, have a tougher time getting the boy out of the village. Ultimately, Hiruzen had put his fist down and used the powers of the Hokage to counter all of the infuriating civilians. Jiraiya was happy that his sensei demonstrated some of his former authority in the situation.

Without a wink of sleep, he was used to it from being a travelling shinobi, Jiraiya had arrived at the gate. He bent over and poked the recumbent boy on his side.

Naruto groaned and turned over. "Sleeping already, eh Naruto? Maybe I'll just leave without you."

"No no no no no! " He shouted, jumping onto his feet. He was wearing a white shirt with the Uzumaki swirl on the back in orange. Without his idiotic jumpsuit, he looked much more normal. His purely blond hair was messed up, spiked, and draped over his eyes in a ruffled mass.

"You don't look too ready for a trip. Where's your pack? A jacket?" Jiraiya sighed, realizing what he signed up for.

Naruto gave him a smirk. "I don't need it! Besides, its not like I had anything to bring anyways."

Feeling awful for the boy, Jiraiya patted him on the back. "Lets get going then. I'd rather we not bother these tiered guards more than we have to," he said, pointing at the two chuunin. Naruto chuckled lightly then nodded.

Jiraiya, with a huge scroll on his back that stored his stuff, walked, rested a hand on the short kid's shoulder, and the two started to walk away from the village.

"Bye, Konoha," Naruto stated, not in a joyful voice but not angry either. He didn't have a reason to hate them now that he was with his super awesome godfather. Besides, Jiraiya was from Konoha and he wasn't mean at all.

Thus began their life-changing journey that would give Naruto a family, though an uncle-like figure, for the first time in his life.

* * *

**-2 Days later-**

* * *

"Why are we stopping, Jiraiya-oji!?" Exclaimed a confused Naruto.

They were standing close to the path, two days into their travels, in a secluded area of the woods. There was a large pond, about sixty meters in diameter, near the two of them. It was about midday, and it was smoking hot outside, considering that they had recently entered the desert-hot Land of Wind, yet they had not reached the signature desert yet. The trees were lacking branches and leaves from midway down, making the area feel a lot less cramped.

"I was under the impression you wanted to become stronger," commented Jiraiya, "but if you don't want to we can-"

"No! Please train me!" Naruto interrupted. The toad sage laughed at how gullible his new student was.

"If you insist. Now, do you know what chakra is?"

"Chakra?" Replied the confused blond.

Jiraiya placed his hand against his forehead in irritation. The academy must have been insane to not teach the kids what chakra was. "I guess have to explain another concept," he sighed.

The Sannin began, trying to dumb it down a little "Chakra is a life force that flows through the body, like your blood. There are 361 points around the body that can emit chakra, and the Hyūga clan can release chakra from all of them, but people like you and me can't. Hand seals, which you are familiar with I hope," he paused, waiting until Naruto gave him a nod, "hand seals help change the flow and nature of chakra to allow you to use jutsu. A Doton jutsu might require you to direct more chakra to your hands, while a Katon jutsu would need chakra in your mouth and stomach."

"Ya, ya, I get it. How is this important to training?" Naruto  
asked.

"You really couldn't let me finish... Some jutsus requires more chakra than others, so you need to have more chakra focus in a specific point." Jiraiya stopped talking and walked to the murkey pond, not pausing as he continued on top of the water. Small ripples spread out from where his large sandals contacted the liquid.

"Whoa!" The jinchūriki was flabbergasted to say the least. His godfather just walked on water, making shinobi seem even cooler than before.

"I can't push too much chakra into my feet, otherwise the water will become wavy and I'll fall in. I also can't put too little because then I wouldn't be able to hold myself up. This is similar to using jutsu. You can't use too muh or too little."

"Sweet! I'm going to do this!" Naruto walked up to the water, following Jiraiya. The middle-aged man debated telling the boy that it was plain dumb, trying to walk on water before doing the tree climbing exercise. Deciding that he was in for some humor, he ignored some of his logical instincts and put on a huge grin as he awaited an epic fail.

Naruto placed one foot on the water tentatively, though he didn't shift his weight yet. Finally, he had found out the name of the energy in his body that he became familiar with two years ago. Chakra, it was called, and it let shinobi do cool jutsu. He just had to be able to focus it, like to his feet. Squinting his eyes in concentration, he tried to push the flowing energy into his feet, unaware that they began to be covered in a light blue tinge.

He shifted his weight.

Jiraiya gasped. The boy had taken one step, no two, in the water and was now standing shakily on the surface. "The Rinnegan," he muttered to himself.

"Whoohoo!" Shouted Naruto as he looked at Jiraiya. "Look at this, Jiraiya-oji!" He jumped, landing back on both feet. Suddenly, the water seemed to move, making him swing his arms wildly to balance himself. Jiraiya began laughing as Naruto looked like a flailing windmill. Then, he found his balance and stood up straight again.

"You have to focus, Naruto."

"Shut up. I got this!" He proclaimed, taking off in a run. With a loud plop, plop, plop, he ran circles around Jiraiya, a foolish grin on the boy's face. The toad sage couldn't help but grin too at his godson's antics, before he thought up a great idea.

Slamming his foot on the water, he sent a wave in front of Naruto.

Wide eyed, the boy slammed into the water, sandaled feet kicking up in the air. He flipped forward, tripping on the water, as he saw the pond grow close and closer. Unable to stop himself, he fell face first into the pond.

Jiraiya clutched his stomach in an exaggeration as he laughed hysterically. 'Maybe this is why Tsunade thought I was immature...' Still, he was impressed, incredibly so, that Naruto had that level of chakra control.

Dragging himself out of the cold water, Naruto huddled up into a ball on the grass. "T-t-that w-was m-mean, O-oji-san," he stuttered out in between shivers.

"Good job, Naruto!" Jiraiya complimented, walking back onto the grass next to the boy. "I think that the Rinnegan helped with your chakra control."

"O-okay. W-what do we do n-now?" He asked with chattering teeth.

"Now, we work on that control, and you'll practice that gravity jutsu of yours."

**"Shinra Tensei,"** Naruto clarified, finally warming up. Even though the pond water was cold, they were near the Land of Wind, meaning that the air was dry and warm.

Jiraiya nodded, he remembered Nagato calling the jutsu that as well. The Sannin found it odd that two people unfamiliar with each other, who each thought that they were the ones to invent a jutsu, somehow telepathically agreed on a name. Then again, the world of bloodlines was a weird one, and thankfully the toad sage didn't have to worry about things like that, seeing how he didn't inherit any skill from whoever his parents were. Now he had to help Naruto 'discover' the same techniques that his previous student had, though they were limited. He always assumed there was far more to the Rinnegan than Uzumaki Nagato revealed, then again the redhead probably knew more now. That said, Jiraiya had no clue where he was, since the rumors of Yahiko's involvement in Amegakure had faded.

One day, he could take Naruto to Ame and see for himself what befell Nagato. Untill then, he would make the blond far stronger than his other Uzumaki student.

"Can you try to manipulate gravity?" He asked.

Naruto frowned. He hadn't done it for two years, and he hardly remembered what happened then. Secretly, he had his doubts that he could manipulate such a powerful force as gravity. "I can try," he replied with his 'I won't ever give up' undertone. The same tone that reminded the toad sage of Kushina.

There was complete silence as the blond focused, closing his eyes. Instantly, Jiraiya felt lighter. A small pebble and specks of dirt began to float a few inches off the ground. The area around the two became devoid of the light wind gusting through the air.

**"Shinra Tensei!"** Naruto snapped open his eyes, Rinnegan blaring, and held his hand out. A light shockwave ripped through the forest, pushing everything within three feet of Naruto away. Sadly, Jiraiya wasn't moved more than a foot by the jutsu, and it hardly had an impact on his surroundings.

"Meh," shrugged Jiraiya, "it'll take some practice."

Naruto placed a hand over his eyes to keep himself from the slight pain, the midday light was only making it worse. "I guess, but I don't think I can do that again today."

"Well, then we'll do some taijutsu!" Naruto groaned. His evil teacher had made him do katas for his style for an hour the last night before he could get any dinner. It was way too boring for the boy, but his godfather insisted that it would help him, and the man was a Sannin after all. He had to know something.

Jiraiya showed him to a tree and they practiced katas for what seemed like years before Naruto could grab some food and rest.

* * *

**-5 Days later-**

* * *

Sunagakure was an inferno to say the least. Heat waves were a common occurance and water was neigh impossible to find, forcing the inhabitants to make houses of hardened sandstone. Huge domes of these houses protected everyone from the persistant sandstorms. Two figures, one a tall, well built man with overly long white hair that looked like a lion's man, the other a short kid with unruly, spiky, blond hair drapped over his eyes, which were effectively hidden.

"How long do we have to be here?!" Naruto complained to his mentor as they finished checking in with the gate guards. They pushed their way through the busy streets, people overflowing from the houses into the market square.

"Long enough to get the political business done and catch up on my 'research,'" Jiraiya giggled perversely at the last part.

Naruto did not really care about the political aspect of the trip, it didn't affect him that his godfather was checking up on the political alliance between Konoha and Suna. It was shaky at best, and it needed constant surveillance in case Suna tried anything sneaky. That just goes to show the trust between people in the shinobi world and how far honor had fallen.

Wait, Naruto knew that the sage kept mentioning research every now and then, but nothing more was said. "What are you researching."

"I'm an author!" Jiraiya proclaimed, pushing past a rowdy man. He grabbed Naruto by the shoulder and they went into a large dome that appeared to be a hotel. Before they went up to ask for a room, he elaborated. "I'm researching for my next book. It's going to be so awesome!"

"You're a writer!" Naruto exclaimed with starry eyes. This Sannin could do absolutely anything. "I'm not that great a reader, but can I have one of your books?"

Panic hardly described what happened next. The room felt much hotter, more constricting for the toad sage as he recalled what his books were about. He couldn't curropt this innocent little kid, could he? "Err... Uhh... No..."

"Why not?" Complained Naruto. "I bet your books are amazing!"

"They'reabunchofpervertedbooksforadults," he stammered out as quickly as possible.

"Huh?"

"They're for adults. Mature books," he clarified looking at the confused Rinnegan wielder.

"I'm mature!" The boy argued, crossing his arms.

For once in the past few years, Jiraiya was completely and utterly lost at what to do. How can he get out of this predicament? At long last, what felt like forever, he changed the topic. "I'm going to do 'research' which you are NOT allowed to follow me to, got it? I expect you to stay in the room and practice that meditation gravity thing," Naruto raised an eyebrow at how ignorant and immature the 'old man' could be. "Do NOT go outside for any reason."

The Sannin bent over and whispered the last part. "Don't let people find out that you have the Rinnegan. They might want to carve those eyes out and put them in their own head, okay?"

Only shaken slightly by the... intimate... description , Naruto nodded a few times for good measure, internally aligning his plans to follow Jiraiya anyways.

"Good, let's get checked in."

The odd team gave the receptionist some cash and silently received a room on the second floor. For a sandy dome, the hotel was surprisingly comfortable, more so than when sleeping on the cold hard ground for the past week. The second floor was significantly smaller than the first, but the room wasn't too cramped. Jiraiya twisted the key in the door, and it slid open with an odd dusty cloud of sand.

Naruto coughed a bit, rubbing his Rinnegan. How dare the sand get in his 'super awesome' eyes, as he now called them?

The jinchuuriki, though he still didn't know it, kicked back on a nice, comfy little bed that he never had the pleasure of sleeping in. His last room was awful, the mattress was stained from 'something' happening before he moved in, and sprigs popped up through the comforter. He pretended to close his eyes and take a nap, looking through a squint as his godfather was about to leave.

"Alright then, see ya Naruto!"

'Is he gone?' The boy wondered as the door slammed behind the Sannin. How could he follow an experienced ninja without him finding out? There had to be a way. His attention was drawn by the window, and he fixed a devious smirk on his face. This was going to be good.

'Where's the old man going?' Wondered the boy as Jiraiya swerved his way around a bunch of crowded venders and shops. There was an enormous sandstone building that had the kanji for 'wind' written on it, and the Sannin was going towards it through the sandy roads. Must have been the Kazekage's tower.

'Huh, guess he's not doing any 'research,' and he actually will do that political stuff...' That was boring, so Naruto decided to wander around a bit.

There was a group of kids playing outside of a building that Naruto assumed to be the local academy. Some sat down at tables and ate while others played around with a ball, likely a game of catch. A majority of the kids were younger than Naruto, six or seven, but a few appeared to be a year older as well. There was even one odd looking boy, or was it a girl, in a black cat costume of sorts.

He continued wandering, bored with nothing to do. There was only so much attention that he could put to training, especially with the amount of time he spent sitting around with his eyes closed, meditating. He was eight, for Kami's sake, and there was no way that he could force his energetic self to stay calm. Like those boys playing catch.

There was a small redhead boy, standing alone behind them, watching them with longing. His teal eyes were lined with black, and the kanji for 'love' was written in red on the left side of his forehead. He glared at the other kids, who were also around seven, with hate that Naruto felt all too familiar.

Ignoring the group of academy students, Naruto walked towards the lonely boy, thinking that he could connect with him. "Hey," the blond said, facing the other kid. The redhead was actually shorter than the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, surprising considering that most of his former class was taller.

The other boy looked at him with almost hungry eyes. "Will you prove my existence?"

"Huh?" Naruto replied, confused. "What do you mean?"

"The only meaning of life is to live for yourself. I'll kill you to prove my existence. Tell me your name!"

He didn't know how to respond to such an odd declaration. Though, when he looked at his past, he used to have a very similar opinion to this boy. For a year after the incident, he lived only for himself. "Uh, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. What are you talking about?"

"I am Gaara, a demon who loves only himself. Mother is screaming for your blood." The now identified Gaara held his hand out as if grabbing something, and Naruto felt the sand under him move. The grains seemed to respond to the redhead, moving towards the Kyuubi jinchūriki slowly as Gaara laughed maniacally.

'Who is this mother? This was so sudden, and I don't know what's going on! Jiraiya-oji was right, I should have stayed in the hotel!' The sand creeped towards Naruto before wrapping itself around his legs. "Y-you don't need to kill me to prove you exist!" He argued.

"There is no other point to my life other than to kill." Despite his insane shout earlier, he had absolutely no emotions leak through these words. To him, they were fact.

The Rinnegan user prided himself on his ability to completely and utterly bullshit his way out of tough situations. Seeing that the sand slowed down, as Gaara wanted to argue, he continued. "What about friends? Family?"

"They make you weak. I am stronger than you because I live for myself." Trying to escape, Naruto struggled and tried to flail his hands. He was weak, helpless, and instead of helping, people seemed to be backing away. They were all scared of Gaara, but why?

Alright, he had to calm down, focus. That's the only way that he could escape from the sand's gripping hold. Breathe, in and out. He had to survive, he had to. If not for himself, than for Jiraiya, who promised to take care of him. He closed his eyes.

"You bore me," Gaara commented nonchalantly, holding his hand further up. The sand began to cover Naruto's upper body, suffocating him and compressing his chest. It was like an elephant was sitting on him.

Focus. He snapped open his ringed eyes.

"DIE! **Sabaku Sõsō!" (Sand Burial)**

**"Shinra Tensei!"**

The sand moved to crush him, but just before he felt his body get smashed to mush, an invisible wall pushed back. He had to live!

Dense chunks of sand exploded out, flying away from him, sending him crashing back down to the sandy ground. Sand rained down near him as he kneeled and panted.

"How!" Gaara screamed, sending more sand after Naruto. The blond knew he couldn't get trapped by it, so he held his hand up for another pulse of gravity. Nothing happened. 'The hell?' He cursed, then cursed again at himself for cursing. 'Is there some sort of recharge time?'

When that didn't work, he had to dodge, but the sand was fast. Running to escape, Naruto heard Gaara scream after him, though the sand didn't seem to fully want to follow him. Clutching his head, the redhead fell face first onto the road. The sand that was chasing Naruto also rained back down to the ground.

"You say you're a demon?" Naruto said, standing up straight and regarding the pained Ichibi jinchūriki. "They said I was a demon before, but I realized that acting like one makes it true. I wanted to live for myself, now I don't know why I want to live. Maybe for others. Jiraiya-oji says I've got some kind of destiny, and he believes in me. I think if you find someone who believes in you, you won't be so lonely. I hope I see you again, Gaara."

With that, he left, taking off running. His godfather was right, he should have stayed home, but maybe this meeting was far more important than he could have expected. It raised questions in the blond. Why did Jiraiya believe in him so much, and why was he considered a demon? There was another boy out there just like him, but they were completely different. Why? He wanted answers, and there was only one way to get them.

* * *

Jiraiya had a fantastic day. Well, most of it was amazing. After two hours of scouring the Kazekage's office when he wasn't there and talking to various other people in the building. Turns out, nothing changed in the relationship between Konoha and Suna, considering that they were truced but hated each other. A war was far on the way, though Jiraiya assumed it wouldn't be for many decades or until someone important got assassinated.

The good part was that he got a chance to see some of the women in Suna. While few and far between, the rare bath house was godly in such a desolate place. Unfortunately, he found no usable ideas for his new Icha Icha Paradise book. He's have to make a trip to Yugakure and check out the hot springs there.

Letting out a tired yawn, the white haired man burst through the door to his and Naruto's apartment. "How's your training going?" He asked, half expecting Naruto to be either fast asleep or training so intensely it was stupid.

The sight of his godson sitting and staring a the Sannin unnerved him. His Rinnegan eyes were glaring at him, obscured halfly by his blond hair. 'What did I do now?' He sighed.

"Jiraiya-oji, if you're my godfather, then you knew my parents."

It was silent. Neither spoke for a few moments, Naruto waiting angrily while Jiraiya was saddened.

"Your father was a legend and an amazing person, as was your mother. I don't know why you need this information now, after staying at the hotel all afternoon," he raised a knowing eyebrow at the boy, "but their names will only make whatever hurt you are feeling worse. I will tell you who they are when you're responsible enough to handle it."

The blond processed the information, frustrated at his godfather. Knowing his parents was the first step to finding out who he was and why his past was so rocky. 'I guess its okay though, if they were that important. Jiraiya-oji's nice enough, at least he told me they were good people. Still, I don't like it, and that's not even the end of my problems.'

"I have another question. Why did they call me a demon?"

"Um, uhh." Jiraiya was overflowing with guilt. He wasn't able to tell Naruto squat about his heritage, even if he did reassure the kid that his parents were great people. Could he tell Minato's son? Could he bear not to?

Jiraiya sat down on the bed next to Naruto and put his arm around his godson's neck.

"Its time I tell you what it means to be a jinchūriki."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for sticking with this story enough to read this A/N. I really appreciate it! Anyways, leave a comment if you hate it or like it. Oh, and if you have any ideas for the future, just cause some of them might be interesting enough and fit well with the story. **

**I'm sorry there wasn't more about Naruto training, it's just kinda boring to write compared to fights and events. Training is just so repetitive and nothing ever gets done... Naruto will find out more about the Rinnegan in the future, but right now he is only able to kinda use Shinra Tensei. You can add what path he should 'discover' next in a review if you want. Thanks for reading!**

**Jiraiya out**


	3. Ch3: Approaching Danger

**Eyes of God**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: Alright, I understand that I made Jiraiya a tad bit too knowledgeable with the Rinnegan. Its alright though, he only knows the specifics of one path, the rest will come along with Naruto's training. Please tell me if you guys want me to go into detail about the earlier events of Naruto's training trip, or skip to the more interesting parts. Also, I'm honored that my second story already has 100 people keeping track of it, thanks so much for your support. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Special shoutout to Keep Calm and Be Ninja for betaing my story!**

"Speaking"

'Thinking' or emphasis

**"Demon speaking"**

**'Demon thinking'**

_flashback_

**Jutsu**

**Ch3: Approaching Danger**

* * *

Naruto hung his head down, wanting to punch his pillow repeatedly and vent his anger. 'How could those civilian idiots be so stupid?!' He wailed, though his mouth was unable to pronounce anything coherent through his tears. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid! They can't even tell that I'm not the Kyuubi! I-I can't do this...'

"Calm down Naruto, you're smarter than this." Jiraiya, he was there. Naruto remembered his caring attitude, just when he thought he'd have no one to care for him. Jiraiya had told him the truth about being a jinchuuriki.

"I-I'm sorry." He wrapped his arms around his godfather's back, squeezing tightly. In the spur of the moment, upset by the insanity of it all, Naruto had finally let his emotions get the better of him. Too often he was kind, forgiving, and seemingly innocent, when he actually just put all of his adversities behind him and chose to move on. The Sannin should not have told him the truth so soon; an unstable child's emotions were easily exaggerated by the smallest of motivators.

"I understand, Naruto, but you've got to be rational about this. Somewhere in that dense head of yours, you know that it isn't their fault, that they have a reason. Please, trust me." The blond responded by hugging Jiraiya tighter than before, his tears drawing on his relief instead of his rage.

"Now that I've got an uncle, I know why they were so mad. If I lost you..." He trailed off, looking at his godfather with teary ringed eyes. As a child, he clung to any show of affection, especially since he had been deprived of such for the past eight years. His 'uncle' had quickly become the most important person in his life.

"Shh... You're fine. Well, you know now why I wouldn't tell you who you're parents are, yet. A shinobi's gotta have control of their emotions first; it is essential in the field." He stood up. "There's a full night ahead of me, and much to do. I suggest you get some rest and practice your meditation to gain more control over those fancy eyes. I wish there was something else I could say to you right now, something to comfort you, but I'm not a father, even an uncle. Its not like I'll ever be able to call myself your father. Take care of yourself."

With a solemn look on his face, Jiraiya waved goodbye to Naruto and left. He wasn't a father, he had failed his own godson, and now he had the chance to make things right. Emotions were too high in the room for him to worry about the latter, he'd have to clear his head with a night out. After that, he might be able to do some more right in the world, and his new student could help him out with his dreams.

* * *

Hours later, when the stars were finally shining outside the window, Naruto had finally calmed down enough to meditate. He sat in a lotus position on the floor of the room, fists pressed together as his eyes were closed in both concentration and passiveness. Focus, that was his only escape. Like with the fight with Gaara earlier, which he yet to mention to his godfather, he knew that his ability to use his dojutsu powers came from either focus or need. And right now, he needed to concentrate, clear his mind, think rationally. Being a kid, he was normally unable to achieve such a state, but the recent events numbed him, if only temporarily.

If he could just think of something other than being hated for such a dumb reason, maybe he could forget. Foolish child logic, meddling with his mind, convincing him of the impossible. Who was Naruto, then, if not someone destined to achieve the impossible, and motivated enough to do so?

As he concentrated, objects rose from the ground slowly, beginning to hover a few inches off the ground. Jiraiya's extra sandals were heavy, a virtual wall for him to conquer and advance his powers. If he could only hold this weightlessness for longer, he felt as if he could do anything. With a small smirk on his formerly impartial face, the sandals themselves joined the small cloud of dust forming.

Thrity minutes passed, complete silence in the room. The only sound, every now and then, was a small snoring coming from the room next door punctured by an object falling and smashing into the ground. His focus wavered too much, he had to hone his powers in order to keep everything suspended in air. But why was he trying to get stronger? Maybe the redhead from earlier was right, he had to live for himself.

He snapped his Rinnegan eyes open, small objects and dust falling back down onto the floorboards. He huffed. "Rediculous, I've got Jiraiya-oji. I'll prove to him that he made the right choice to train me."

* * *

**3 Weeks later**

* * *

"Naruto, it's your birthday in four days."

Two people were walking down the road. The taller, Jiraiya, had his hands behind his head as he walked with not a care in the world. The short one, even short for a boy, was none other than Uzumaki Naruto, who finally had some of the happiness that he wanted. Sure, training sucked and he hardly accomplished learning simple academy style katas, but he was going places. At least Jiraya said he was.

After the day in Suna, they spent the rest wandering around, staying for a day or two in some smaller, rowdier towns. The Sannin, on orders from Hiruzen, had a few people to meet in the Land of Fire to check for any rising criminals or find nukenin. Apart from the training, Naruto would classify the rest as 'thankfully boring,' considering that he didn't want another life-threatening encounter with a crazy madman.

By the end of the three weeks, the blond had actually figured out that the recharge time for his jutsu was, according to Jiraiya, five seconds. The problem was that he couldn't use it one time out of ten. The Sannin also helped him to figure out that he could change the size of the gravity pulse, even force it to have directionality. That didn't mean that he was much better with using it. If he made the blast bigger, he couldn't do anything too large yet without his eyes hurting badly and feeling tired, the recharge time would increase. So far, neither he nor his uncle had any idea how to unravel the mystery of the other five paths, but Jiraiya seemed to think that it came from being put in stressful situations, needing a solution.

The toad sage promised to help him discover them after Naruto had mastered the academy style taijutsu and at least one ninjutsu of each element. Ninjutsu training was scheduled to begin after he could do the hand seals with genin fluency. Naruto wasn't the sharpest when it came to memorization, hand seals needed much of it, so he was upset at the requirement.

"Meh, its not really that special."

"Course it is, you idiot. Its the day you were born, and by Kami if you have to be grateful for something, at least choose that."

"You know, I would be grateful if I didn't have to have such a perv of a godfather!"

"Ehhh!?" Jiraiya exclaimed. "You found my books! I thought I hid them," he chuckled, amused by his student's antics.

"They're disgusting!" Naruto stuck out his tongue to prove the point.

"Yeah... You're probably too young to have read them."

"I'm almost nine years old!" He crossed his arms and stepped in front of Jiraiya in defiance.

"Exactly," smirked the Sannin, patting the boy on the head. He walked straight _through_ Naruto, knocking him stumbling to the side of the path, nearly crashing into a wagon going the other way. Naruto replied by hitting the white haired man in the stomach, accomplishing nothing but getting sore knuckles.

"Hmph, when can you teach me cool jutsu!? I want to be an epicly awesome shinobi!" The wagon owner turned towards them, muttering something about troublesome shinobi under his breath before sighing and continuing his lame journey.

"Once your hand seals are faster than the speed of a snail. You know, you can't rely on those fancy eyes of yours for everything. Nagato didn't, and I expect you to work your hardest to have the same level of skill as him. When he was ten, he was at least chuunin level and didn't even _know_ about the Rinnegan."

"Nagato this, Nagato that, and you won't even take me to Ame! Promise me you'll take me if I work on those hand seals all day tomorrow," Naruto followed Jiraiya as they resumed the trek.

"Ame is a dangerous place..."

"Oh yeah? And Suna wasn't?"

"It's nothing compared to Ame," an irritated Jiraiya snapped back. "Besides, I've heard rumors recently that both Hanzo and those orphans that I trained, including Nagato, probably died with him. So yeah, now it's most likely a lawless village full of thieves and murderers, but who knows? They're just too secretive."

Naruto groaned obnoxiously, comically hanging his head down. "I'm so bored. Why does it take so long to get to Tonika Village?"

For the fourth time that day, Jiraiya chose to completely ignore that overused question in favor of peace and quiet. The village was always a nice place to go, and it would be an easy place to stay at when he began to teach Naruto ninjutsu. Some places... didn't appreciate shinobi as much as others. The sensei and student, now a fully fledged family, continued walking in an awkward silence, each running out of conversation points after a three week journey.

Standing in the center of an osais, Tonika Village was a pretty village by sunset. The desert around it stretched for a few miles and was little fun for the two, as the journey lasted all afternoon until sunset. Many yellow lights illuminated the windows of moderately large houses, each where only a single family stayed. By no means were they considered wealthy, but the village did gain a great deal of favor from the Hokage for reasons Jiraiya wasn't familiar with. Though, he was certain it was related to some type of dangerous weapon that they were containing.

If that suspicion was true, then the large amount of guards was easily explained. When the two had finally passed through both the wasteland and the forest, they came upon a small wall surrounding the pretty village. In the center was a stone lined circle with large pillars sticking out from it, all of which looked out of place in the village. Like Tonika was built around it.

"This place is pretty cool," Naruto commented as they entered through the miniature gate. He realized how worthless it was, considering that there was only twenty feet of gate and the rest was naturally protected.

"Not many come here," the guard barred their way. He was a round man with a small, spiky beard, and a large black mustache. He had short, black hair that stuck up, held in place by a white bandaged wrapped around his forehead. A pair of red glasses rested on his nose, giving no one the impression of a reliable guard.

Jiraiya smiled at the fat man. "I'm on business from the Hokage to see Hiroto, the village head. The papers are here if you need them." The white haired man forked over three pieces of paper to prove their identity and their goal. The militia guard looked them over, not really checking them for authenticity. His mind wasn't in it, and who faked official papers from the Hokage?

"Apologies. Its my job to make sure people are here in peace, especially the shinobi."

Naruto interrupted them, "Lets get going already! I'm hungry!"

The glasses wearing guard chuckled. "He's your son? I'm thinking of teaching kids like him if this job doesn't work out."

"I really hope he's not my son," he snickered.

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping up to hit the man on the shoulder. Jiraiya kept bickering with the kid as they walked past the guard into the village.

"Have a good stay! My name's Dokku if you need me..." If they heard him, they made no sign of stopping their insane conversation, so he went back to guarding. Well, his shift was up anyways. In his opinion, he probably wasn't cut out to be part of the militia...

* * *

The next day was uneventful. Well, most of it was. Jiraiya had left to hand Hiroto a letter that he received from a messenger during his travels. Naruto was bored out of his minds, endlessly repeating a few patterns. Once he decided that was boring, he wandered around to buy some lunch with the money Jiraiya left.

He was going though the market district, a small place, when he spotted a shop that captured his eye and peaked his curiosity. _Weapons and Arms,_ the sign read in black print. 'Huh, well he did tell me to spend the money how I wanted, and I've never been in a weapons store before.'

It was awesome for any kid, almost dream like. It was a small store, but it was jam packed with absolutely anything you could see. Katanas, tantos, bo staffs, wakizashis, spiky mace-things, and a whole bunch of other odd contraptions that left Naruto speechless. Kunai, shuriken, they had it all.

"What do you want kid?"

"Uhh, I'm just looking. It's all too expensive for me anyways." The man that he couldn't see, he was in the backroom, grunted at that and went back to whatever he was doing. Naruto heard some hammering, no doubt from the man forging a sword, but he paid it no mind, he was intrigued. Jiraiya had given him kunai, but he never held a sword before.

He grabbed small wakizashi off the shelf and held it with one hand. It was boring, basic black with a grey handle and white bandages to give it grip, but it was badass in the boy's opinion. The first thing he noticed was how light it was, then how sharp the blade was. Like the child he was, he swung it down in an arc, playfully twirling it around. He may not have been able to pay for it now, but a sword of some sort was definitely something that he wanted for his birthday.

Afterwards, he grabbed some lunch and returned to the hotel, where he found Jiraiya waiting outside the building. He had a look of urgency on his face, one of the rare expressions that Naruto had yet to see from the man. What could have been so important?

"We have to leave. Now!" He grabbed Naruto by the shoulder and they started walking back towards the gate. "Hurry, we have to get there before the lead goes cold."

"What happened!?" Naruto shouted as the man forcefully dragged his godson through the gate. Dokku gave them a short nod before returning to a conversation with his friend.

"Sensei sent me a letter," he said in a grave voice.

"Jiji!" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki exclaimed. "What'd he say?"

"A criminal organization called the Akatsuki, can you run all the way to Tanzaku-Gai with breaks for sleep and food?" That trip would be an entire day at jounin speeds, how could he get there in two without having trained for enough?

"Maybe, bu-"

"Good, then run," Jiraiya took off, running through the forest towards the forest around the town.

'But I'm only eight...' Naruto finished in his head, struggling to keep pace with his uncle. No matter what, he would not be a burden.

More so, he was concerned about the recent worry. What could have the toad sage so worked up? Trees whizzing by, he found the breath to ask. "What is so important about the Akatsuki? There are other criminal organizations out there?"

"Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame... Orochimaru," he paused as he said the last name, "they're all S-rank missing-nin. I need to find out more before this group becomes larger," Jiraiya explained, giving Naruto all of the information from the letter.

Nothing was really known about the group so far, they hadn't done anything, but they could not have ever expected to know half of the madness originating and circulating around the Akatsuki. As an experienced and hardened shinobi, however, the Sannin clearly knew the dangers of such a group, just not quite how world-changing their motives were. Still, they could only be savory at best.

The afternoon flew by, worry and curiosity overflowing both of them.

"Can we slow down, there's no way I can run this fast," Naruto complained, staggering a bit and stopping.

"I'll carry you, but we have to get to Tanzaku-Gai soon, before they disappear completely."

* * *

It was twelve hours later when Jiraiya had finally succumbed to fatigue from carrying the blond so far. They were about halfway to Tanzaku-Gai, but they had earned a rest. Tired and hungry, the both of them sat down by a small fire and warmed their hands in the solemn night October air. Travelling all day was of no problem for the Sannin on normal occasions; however, Naruto wasn't used to long periods of time awake and sleepless, even if he had gone a day or two without eating properly in the past. For the Sannin, it was extra painful to drag a kid along at the strenuous speeds.

"Rabbit stew?" Jiraiya asked, handing Naruto a small wooden bowl full of it. Sealing let any fuuinjutsu master carry practically anything they needed with a big enough scroll. Yes, even a live rabbit...

"Thanks!" Naruto pipped up, grabbing the bowl, frowning at the lack of noodles, then ravenously beginning to devour it. The toad sage shuddered, Uzumakis had enormous appetites.

"Oi, Jiraiya-oji, this is pretty good!" he managed.

The anxious godfather gave a smile back, not too intent on talking. Instead, he took up worrying about his former teammate, Orochimaru, knowing whatever he was in the criminal organization for, it couldn't be good. For anyone. On a more personal note, he still believed he could save the snake summoner, no matter how far gone his sensei may have thought the man. While it was a wake up call for Hiruzen, Jiraiya still thought people, namely his friend, had good in them, hidden somewhere.

"Are you alright?" The blond asked, noticing how Jiraiya stared distantly into the fire.

He snapped his eyes up. Come on, brooding in front of such an innocent kid? He wasn't an Uchiha. "Heh, sorry there Naruto. I was just worried that I might have to somehow keep you out of the way if we do go after the Akatsuki."

"No way! That'd be soooo boring. Besides, you're an S-rank ninja and have yet to do anything super-cool other than summoning those icky toads."

"Icky!" Jiraiya grunted back, not really fully involved in the argument. "I am too a legendary shinobi!" Deciding to cheer himself up, he placed his bowl on the ground and stood up.

With an extravagant pose, he exclaimed, "I have defeated evil foes and even fought kages! You have no idea what an S-rank means."

"Yeah, yeah. And with all your senseiness that you obviously excell in, all of your students ditched you."

Jiraiya's jaw dropped at the boy's complete and utter idiocy and ignorance to his skills. Of course, it was in a playful way, having been close to the boy for a while. "It wasn't my fault. Minato Namikaze, your fath... fellow student, died saving Konoha. Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko were all from Ame anyways, I didn't have the political power at the time to take them to Konoha." He nearly slapped himself for becoming so careless around his godson that he almost revealed Naruto's heritage. Hey, even spy masters and professionals slipped up around their closest, most trustworthy friends. At least his wasn't in front of some powerful political figure or strong shinobi.

"It sounded like you were saying..."

"You know what, I'll give you a demonstration of a jutsu, but you have to promise to stop running your mouth constantly when I'm caring you."

Naruto rolled his eyes and mumbled back in a quiet voice, "I'm sorry you can't stop your hair from swinging at my neck, or that you can't stay steady when jumping between trees..."

"What was that!" His uncle figure shouted in an accusatory tone.

"N-nothing, Oji-san. I said that you're a great person to talk to."

Detecting the lie with an inward sigh, Jiraiya responded with a grin, "just for that, you'll take watch all night and I can get some beuty sleep." All night was actually only three hours, Jiraiya was in a rush and they would probably get a chance to rest when they got there.

"Senseeeeiiiiii!" Naruto complained, tossing an empty bowl at Jiraiya.

"No more for you," the man said, placing Naruto's bowl next to his own, only to return to eating his dinner.

Smirking evilly, Naruto's eyes ripped a bit, glowing slightly in the night, and the empty bowl flew right back into his outstretched hand. He scooped some stew from the pot and kept eating.

"What was that?" Jiraiya sighed.

**"****Banshō Tenin**,**" **the blond replied as if it explained everything.

"Well, good night," the toad sage, smirked back, knowing that his student had to stay on watch. Ignoring the complaints, Jiraiya extinguished the fire and cleaned the bowls and pot, sealing them back up in his scroll. Resting his head on an unsealed pillow, the man fell asleep, anxiety hardly leaving him alone.

* * *

Tanzaku-Gai was a rowdy place, gambling hub, and just a _different_ kind of area in the shinobi world. A _tourism_ town, known for their magnificent castle, full of drunkards, idiotic civilians, and a good deal of thief-run markets and illegal gambling hubs. Not like they enforced the laws anyways. All in all, it wasn't a place for kids to go, and Naruto may appear as a normal kid, even more idiotic, but he couldn't be more aware of the dangers. In a way, it was like the slums of Konoha, not that they were true slums per say.

Jiraiya led the boy, he was finally silent, tired to an ugly-looking bar. It reminded the Rinnegan wielder of the place that he first saw Jiraiya in, making him grin a little in remembrance. What would his kids say, if he had any, when he told them that the only reason he got so awesome was because he walked past a bar like this. Oh, the thought!

The bartender was pouring an obscenely large glass of beer for one dirty-looking traveller when they walked in. Some heads turned, a few snorted out loud at the sight of a young kid. One or two recognized the man from Iwa's bingo book, or the history books, as one of the legendary Sannin. The grunted in disbelief, thinking of how it wasn't such an important event, hopelessly returning to their drinks or bar food.

"Jiraiya-san," the bartender greeted gruffly, quietly.

'Odd,' Naruto noted, 'that guy didn't use -sama like most who knew him. Probably the informant. Course he is, Jiraiya-oji practically lives at these places.' The man had a worn face, like he had a rough past, accentuating his middle aged features. While he might have been in his early thirties, he appeared as if he was in his late forties.

"Ah, Kazumi," he leaned closer to make sure no one could hear, "I'm looking for information about the Akatsuki."

The man placed down his rag and slid a drink to a woman a few feet away. "Akatsuki, I haven't heard of 'em."

"Look, we both know you hear everything going on this town. Tell me, you're supposed to give me information." Naruto tried to listen to what they were saying, only for Jiraiya to hold a hand back, pushing lightly on his chest. "Sit down, Naruto, let me deal with this." With a nod, the blond left and found a table to sit at, bored.

"Hmph, as if. I wouldn't say anything about a group like that with my family on the line. Maybe you're starting to get worse at finding things yourself."

"Your family wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me. You owe me, and I'll get what I want to know from you whether you decide to cooperate or not," he whispered, dangerously. Jiraiya may have done torture and other morally grey things on missions, but he didn't do it much anymore. Kazumi didn't have to know that.

He grunted again, forcing the Sannin to rub his forehead in annoyance, "I get paid double for this moth of helping you."

"Fine, just tell me!" he whispered urgently, raising his voice enough for the nearest people to hear.

"All I know is that they're taking mercenary jobs. Bounty hunts and alike; I think they're building up for something big. All of 'em have got these black cloaks and red clouds on 'em, fits their name. Supposedly, there were two here yesterday, staying at the place across the street. Said something about hunting some group if that makes any sense."

"Where are they now?" It was the afternoon, most people shouldn't still be in the same hotel, not if they wanted to avoid anyone trailing them. Then again, they probably wouldn't have thought that they'd be followed.

"I'd check the room first, see if they're there. Could be anywhere by now, though," he added leaning back against a rack of bottles, shrugging.

Jiraiya leaned over, seriousness on his face. "Is Orochimaru with them?"

"That snake friend of yours," the man replied nonchalantly. "Haven't heard of him. Must be around four or five members in there by now, he might not be one."

"Thanks," standing up straight, the Sannin turned around, walking to the exit. "Naruto!" he commanded, breaking the kid from his daydreams. They exitted the building, a few people pausing from their drinks to give a short glare at the man, then they returned to their normal loud conversation. The streets were filled with the normal hustle and bustle of the daily life. Unfortunately for Tanzaku-Gai's business, very few people were on the streets today. A cart or two went by, maybe five or so civilians were anywhere near. The town didn't wake up until night

"Naruto, stay outside I'm goin... Get back!" Coming out of that very building were two people in black cloaks, red clouds on them. One had a leaf headband, turned to the side of his head, slash running through the middle, but his face could not be seen to the two. The other was unusual blue, a trait Jiraiya knew to describe the missing-nin Hoshigake Kisame.

At the sound of Jiraiya's shout, both turned to face them. "Jiraiya-sama, how nice to meet you here." Uchiha Itachi, S-rank missing-nin of Konoha, known for his mastery of the sharingan and knowledge in just about every vital shinobi category. Tactical genius. His face was much older than that of a fifteen year old, slick black hair held back in a ponytail. Lines were formed under his eyes in his neutral expression.

The other man had a feral shark-like appearance. Two small eyes sat above gill-like black lines on his face, his teeth were sharp in an amused grin. A large bandaged sword was strapped to his back, the scratched out Kiri forehead protector, and Jiraiya's knowledge all figured that this man was an ex member of the Seven Swordsmen.

"Where's Orochimaru?" Jiraiya asked, backing into a stance. Some of the civilian passer-byes saw the general signal of a shinobi fight and began clearing the streets so fast, one would wonder how unusual fights were in this part of the town. Naruto backed away a little, behind Jiraiya, but he could not flee. He couldn't be completely useless, no matter how out of his league these two were supposed to be.

"He left," replied Itachi simply, loosening the collar of his cloak. Red, his eyes were now red, Jiraiya noticed. The Sharingan blazed like an omen of death and power, predicting his every move.

His partner laughed a little. "Oh, come on Itachi! You didn't have to make it so easy for them. We should grab the kid, that way we won't have to later." With an exaggerated motion, the man swung the bandaged sword from behind his back and stuck it, blade first, on the ground. One hand gripped the handle, the other resting at his side.

The Sannin narrowed his eyes. "What do you want with Naruto?"

The renegade Uchiha interrupted Kisame, just as he was about to speak. "It is irrelevant. Kisame, we cannot capture him yet, Leader-sama has not given the order." Could they want the Rinnegan? Maybe, it was a legend. Then why couldn't they capture him, Jiraiya wondered, deciding that it could, in fact, be the Kyuubi as well. Actually, there were a multitude of reasons they could want to capture Naruto, from ransom to power.

The ex-Kiri nin laughed at his partner, swinging his sword in front of his chest, hungry for a fight. Samehada, the sword, rattled in its bloodthirst as well. "Since when have you been good at following orders? Wiping out your entire clan hardly is truly an act of obedience!" Jiraiya could have sworn that the passive look in Itachi's features broke for just a second. What was it? Pain? Guilt? It was too short.

"I'm Jiraiya of the Sannin! Just try to get past me!" He had to act, now! Before things could get out of hand. Information could be extracted from them later, but paramount for the toad sage was Naruto's safety. 'Don't look at the eyes,' he reminded himself, thinking up strategies. They needed to get out of the streets, avoid the civilians, but how? How could he draw them away from Naruto and the entire town of innocents.

Finally slipping into a moderately involved stance, the stoic Uchiha placed a foot forward. It was always best for him to appear unprepared, when in reality he was ready to move in a split second. "I suppose we have no choice, Jiraiya of the Sannin."

"Naruto get away!" The toad sage shouted, worried that the Rinnegan would get

"Let's get this started!" Kisame shouted, charging forward.

**"Shinra Tensei!"** The blond boy shouted, meters away, holding his hand up. Kisame, caught unaware, flew back, landing softly next to Itachi on his back. It only worked to increase the bloodlust in the air. Naruto was proud of himself, but scared beyond his wits end at the same time.

"Dammit, Naruto, you can't even hold your own against them."

The jinchuuriki backed a bit further away. "Sorry, Oji-san. I'll stay away," he said, still not registering the full gravity of the situation.

He jumped onto a large wagon, using it to hop onto a one story house's black shingled roof. He stayed as far back from the impending fight as he could, over forty feet, but so he could still see what was happening. The place was deslote, silence descendig like a fog. The once populated streets were abandoned, and people were hiding in their houses.

Kisame chuckled, dusting himself off as he stood up. "Now, that was a surprise. Leader-sama is going to love this." He tilted his head to give Naruto an evil look. "Well, lets begin."

* * *

**A/N: Dang, did that fight have a bit of buildup or what? Ha, now you guys gotta wait till next chapter to find out what happens with their fight. I know, Jiraiya should not have found out so much about the Akatsuki this early, but this is all logical. The Hokage gets information, he sends it to Jiraiya, then he acts. The butterfly effect here should be more than logic enough for this to be a sensible event. Trust me, there will be a large gap before any large scale fights after this one, so don't think that I'm doing too much too fast. This event will give Naruto a goal, push him harder to succeed.**

**I said Naruto would unlock his path here, but I didn't write about as much of his training as I'd thought, so it'll be put off.**

**Thanks so much for reading, and don't hesitate to give me constructive criticism! Hell, go and rage at this if any of your points actually make sense (not really, but don't be afraid to be a little harsh).**

**Jiraiya out**


	4. Ch4: Origins of War

**Eyes of God**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

**A/N: Thank you 'Keep Calm and Be Ninja' for agreeing to beta my story. I hope this chapter can deliver after the cliffhanger.**

"Speaking"

_'Thinking' or emphasis_

**"Demon speaking"**

**'Demon thinking'**

_flashback_

**Jutsu**

**Ch4: Origins of War**

* * *

In the middle of a now deserted dirt road in Tazaku Gai was a tall, sturdy, white haired man, prepared for anything. His opponents stood, unwavered by the Sannin's reputation, dressed in their black cloaks with red clouds. Akatsuki, they were called, an elite group made of only the most notorious criminals. Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigake Kisame. The unusual partners were strong, Jiraiya noted. The first was emotionless, calculating, and ultimately a strategic genius with no lack of skill. Kisame was an unknown, his small amount of information telling him of the man's past in the Seven Swordsmen.

Naruto watched on as the tension built.

The blue skinned man gave out a bloodthirsty laugh. "Well, lets begin." He placed his hands together in a snake seal, Jiraiya immediately working on countering it with his own hand signs. Itachi jumped out of the way, anticipating the attack.

**"Suiton: Bakusui Shōha!" **(Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave). A huge torrent of water sprayed from the man's mouth, as the Sannin struggled to finish.

By now a giant wave threatened to crush him, swamping three houses to the side. Naruto's rooftop remained safe. _'I have to push them back.'_

He jumped, the wave crashing underneath him. **"Katon: Endan!"** (Fire Release: Flame Bullet). A magnificent inferno from Jiraiya's mouth crashed into the top of the wave. Steam hissed, placing the entire place in fog, the gound wet.

With the flames continuing their assault, the Sannin used the cover to land on Naruto's building. _'I have to keep him safe!'_ He thought, determined. _'Shit!'_ He cursed as a blur materialized to his right.

He caught a kick sweeping towards his knees. Itachi bounced black, landing lightly on his toes. With one swift motion, four shuriken were flying towards him.

"You didn't think it'd be that easy did you?" Jiraiya smirked as they all hit their targets. But then, he poofed into a cloud of smoke.

**"Kage bunshin, **clever," the Uchiha commented, "I could say the same to you, Jiraiya-sama," He twisted around and slapped away a punch to the back of his head. Jiraiya followed up with a kick at his side, deftly dodged. Itachi, ducking under, snapped his limp arm out of his cloak to deal a punch to the chest.

Naruto, meanwhile, had backed up farther away on the roof, avoiding the beginnings of a fight. He was surprised when Jiraiya, no a bunshin, walked up to him. "Follow me," he smirked, forming a plan to lure the Akatsuki members from the town. The blond nodded, words weren't necessary in the serious atmosphere.

"Forgetting me!?" A voice laughed as a wrapped sword swung at Naruto's chest. Quicker than humanly possible, Jiraiya was there, a kunai held in two hands to block the enormous sword. He countered by jumping back, pushing the jinchuuriki behind him, then throwing the kunai. Just as the man blocked, a fireball roared at him.

Kisame's sword sliced upwards, the intense fire cut in half. Jiraiya gasped at the properties of the sword, realizing the magnitude of the fight he was in.

While this was happening, the original Sannin was in the midst of a taijutsu battle with Itachi, wondering why the Uchiha hadn't employed genjutsu or ninjutsu. To force a move, he moved backwards, towards the clone and Naruto. At a blurring speed, Itachi ran through seals and puffed out his cheeks. **"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu,"** (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique) The man stated before expelling a torrent of fire. (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Techinique)

The ball of flames short at Jiraiya, who himself just finished hand seals.**"Suiton: Mizurappa!"** (Water Release: Water Trumpet) He declared as a condensed jet of water collided with the fire, once again releasing steam and making their surroundings thicker. As it _hissed _through the air, neither stopped their jutsu for one second.

Fighting for dominance, the visibility suffered greatly. Kisame and the Jiraiya clone, still locked in a kunai versus sword fight, could no longer see Itachi with the original. Jiraiya smirked, his plan was almost in motion. As the bright jutsu subsided, both finally cancelled out, the two S-ranked shinobi faced off on the slanted black shingled roof.

"You cannot escape these eyes."

_'Don't look at them,'_ he reminded himself quietly, breathing softly to calm his anxiety. "Who said anything about escaping? I'm going to find out everything I want about Orochimaru, starting with you! **Kage bunshin no jutsu!" **A clone popped up next to him, holding a kunai in hand. 'I'm stretching my chakra too thinly, I have to get them away fast.'

Taking a page from Jiraiya's book, Itachi made a hand seal and a bunshin appeared next to him as well. "This strategy is not favorable to you, Jiraiya-sama."

'_Shut_ _up_,' he thought definitely, mind running through some on-the-spot plans to get this to working. His clone was losing ground against Kisame, trying to keep him from using ninjutsu was taking its toll. Not to mention, the man was an excellent swordsman, a loosing battle for the clone. He needed to move them away from the city before they destroy more innocents' homes.'

**"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu," **the original made a series of seals, holding his hand up to his mouth. A barrage of bullet-like flames flew at the Sannin. His clone jumped in front of him, spitting mud on the ground.

**"Doton: Doryūheki,"** (Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall) the real Jiraiya smirked as the mud solidified into a wall barely large enough to protect his clone and himself from the flames. He heard the thunks of hidden shuriken crash into the wall as well, making him happier that he didn't try to douse them with water and get sliced.

Back with the clone and Kisame, Naruto was in complete awe and utterly speechless at what was happening. Jiraiya was countering a giant sword, swung around like it was nothing, using only a small kunai. That was just a testament to the man's prowess. Kisame tried to form hand seals, jumping back, but Jiraiya had already thrown another kunai at him, stopping the shark-like man from finishing.

"Damn you..." he grunted, "Its going to be so much more fun when I cut off that right arm of yours."

"I'm a clone," Jiraiya's bunshin muttered to himself, though Kisame clearly heard.

Unfortunately, he was now out of extra kunai, the rest were sealed in the large scroll on his back. He held his last one, what he needed to protect against the chakra eating sword. One touch from that, and he'd be a goner, poofing into smoke and leaving Naruto helpless. On top of that, he was nearing the end of his stamina as a clone, the effort and strain nearly forcing him to disappear.

Kisame began the same sequence of hand seals, a victorious grin on his face. "Finally. **Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu!"** (Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Technique) He thrust his hand forward, attacking Naruto and Jiraiya. A huge shark enveloped his arm, reaching out in front of him, acting like a extension of his punch. It shot forward with incredible force. The clone had no way to counter it. Naruto would get hurt, and he was helpless, at the end of his limit.

The shark's open jaws swallowed Jiraiya in a loud poof, but it didn't stop going even when Kisame had stood still, attacking the blond boy. Naruto's ringed eyes widened as he felt fear, holding his hands in front to protect himself.

He closed his eyes.

Pain never came.

When he opened them, he saw the jutsu being absorbed into his hands. It was as if a protective wall ate all the chakra.

"That was unexpected, kid. I'll need to cut off your hands too now, since I have to drag you back to Leader-sama. He placed his sword in front of his chest menacingly.

"Naruto, lets go!" Jiraiya's voice shouted from somewhere in the mist. Sure enough, the original white haired shinobi appeared in front of the boy, once again protecting him. Clangs could be heard on the other side of the rooftop as Itachi fought with the clone. Jiraiya felt his memories return before Itachi was standing next to Kisame.

The two groups faced each other, neither making a move.

Jiraiya bit his thumb.

'Sorry, poor house,' he thought. Boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram.

He slammed his hand down. **"Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi no Jutsu!" **(Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique)

An enormous frog appeared out of nowhere above the Akatsuki members, falling from only ten meters above them. As they dived to the side to avoid it, Jiraiya picked up Naruto and ran away to an open area outside Tanzaku Gai. He heard the loud crunch of the house being crushed and more civilian screams as a few ran away from the houses near the dusty wreckage, but he couldn't turn back. Hopefully, they were now far safer than if a high level shinobi battle took place on their roof.

Kisame walked up to his partner, Jiraiya still speeding off across the rooftops with Naruto in tow.

The Uchiha regarded him seriously. Actually, the look on his face did not falter from its emotionless norm, but the undertones of seriousness broke through in his voice. "He means to find an open area to attack us with full force. This is not a fight we can win."

"Itachi-san, that is where you are wrong; I am stronger than you think. But this is not the time to test our limits. Leader-sama told us this is only a scouting mission, and advised us not to approach Jiraiya." The shark-like man swung his sword with a menacing grin. "I still think we have time for some fun."

And just like that, the Uchiha's partner took off, launching himself after the jinchuuriki. Internally, Itachi sighed. He needed to give Jiraiya a warning, some form of silent heads up of the goals of their organization. Konoha was his home, and he'd just as soon kill himself as see the Akatsuki complete their goal of world domination. Besides, he'd always been a silent protector of Naruto when he was in the ANBU, so the last thing he wanted, after that goal, was to intentionally harm the boy. He would have to employ some fancy trickery to make this turn out right.

It was a good thing he was a professional.

* * *

As the Toad Sage arrived at a large, grassy clearing, he set Naruto down on his feet. "Please, stay away from me in case any of our jutsu cause destruction."

Taking the silent approach, Naruto gave a sharp nod, feeling the crushing weight of helplessness once again bear down on his shoulders. Even with the so-called Legendary Rinnegan, he was no more than an ant to these shinobi. The ranking system of shinobi had always eluded Naruto's knowledge, preventing him from understanding the true prowess and ability of an S-rank ninja. One did not simply become that strong overnight, it took years, starting at young age.

With a 'whooshing sound, two blurs once again landed across the clearing from the pair. Uchiha Itachi had his Sharingan blazing, appearing far closer and more potent than anything else.

Jiraiya grinned, positioning himself in a ready position. "Heh, you guys actually followed us, that was your first and last mistake."

Itachi turned towards his partner. "Kisame, our objective was only to capture the Kyuubi should Jiraiya-san be occupied or otherwise incapacitated. You've had your fun already, lets go; there are others we can fight." Knowing his partner would eventually see sense and follow him, Itachi slowly began to walk away. There was utter silence apart from the gusty wind and the quiet sound of sandals crunching grass. The air was tense as Kisame tried to make his decision.

"You think I'd let you get away?" Jiraiya called. No one who threatened his godson would get the luxury to leave easily. **"Hari Jigoku!"** (Needle Hell) His long white mane of hair extended around his body, sharpening into white spikes.

The spikes shot from him like a machine gun as he hair returned to normal. Caught unaware, Uchiha Itachi was impaled with hundreds of small, senbon-like needles. Without a warning, everyone thought he was dead, a black crow flew from Itachi's shoulder. Then another. Soon, the air was filled with the loud 'Kawws' of many crows as his body disappeared. Kisame remained passive, watching the events with a raised eyebrow and hungry smirk.

"You are already within my genjutsu," a voice behind him intoned. As the Sannin tried to twist around, he was forced to hold in place by a kunai to his neck. _'Dammit, genjutsu is my weak point, when did I look into his eyes?'_ he cursed before remembering that he saw them in the distance when they arrived at the clearing. _'I'm fine. Calm down. I've been through two wars, the amount of times I've been stuck in a situation like this is far too many to count.'_

Jiraiya smirked, an idea forming in his head. Itachi couldn't stop him from making hand seals, at least the Sannin had time to use just two. As discreetly as possible, he placed his hand in the boar and tiger signs.

**"Doton: Yomi Numa,"** (Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld) he said as Itachi began to sink into the ground. Before the missing-nin could register what had happened, Jiraiya slammed him with an elbow, knocking him backwards into the mud. The Uchiha continued to sink until he was only a head above a miniature black swamp.

"In the shinobi world, experience is vital," Jiraiya commented, returning the favor by holding a kunai to the man's throat. "Who is your leader and what does he want with the Kyuubi?"

Itachi turned his eyes toward Jiraiya, who moved his gaze away from the Sharingan just in time. "In the shinobi world," he repeated, "information is also vital, Jiraiya-sama." Once again, he burst into crows that scattered, flying towards the space next to Kisame. Uchiha Itachi reformed, his stoic expression returning to his face. Jiraiya cursed internally at the infernal genjutsu master.

"Kisame," the Uchiha said to the former Kiri nin, "It would be best if we leave. Give us some cover."

The blue skinned missing nin returned with a thoughtful frown. Finally, he decided to give in to Itachi's whim. **"Suiton: Dai Bakusui Shōha." **(Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave). An enormous wave more than twice the size of the one in the village spewed from Kisame's mouth, roaring towards Jiraiya and Naruto. The raging water gave the Akatsuki members to run away without another word, leaving the promise of a small ocean in their wake.

"Naruto! Grab onto me!" Jiraiya commanded, bracing himself for the wave. Naruto latched onto his back. "Hold your breath," he added as the giant wave loomed closer.

As the water came closer, Naruto held his hand out in front of Jiraiya. "Preta path," he muttered.

The water crashed into them, but it never actually hit them. The chakra-infused jutsu was being absorbed into the blond boy's hand as if it was a vacuum. Jiraiya watched on in awe as the torrent was separated around the two, forming a bubble with them inside. The jutsu washed by, saturating the formerly grassy clearing, turning it into a lake. Fortunately, Tanzaku Gai was uphill, so the jutsu never reached it. Instead, it piled up until they were stuck fifteen feet underwater.

Naruto felt heavy, exhausted. It shouldn't have been possible, absorbing a jutsu. He didn't even absorb most of it, only instinctually keeping the small amount of water from crushing them.

He couldn't concentrate; his focus was slipping. Then, the bubble burst.

Water rushed in, quickly slamming into the two, trying to compress them. The jinchuuriki passed out, falling into Jiraiya's arms as the Sannin swam determinedly to the top. He surfaced, gulping in sweet air, setting Naruto to float on his own back, unassisted.

"Hmm," Jiraiya thought out loud, looking at the sun's reflection in the water. "Today went much better than I thought."

* * *

**Later**

* * *

Naruto had woken up, soaked, laying on a stiff bed. On second thought, he noticed it was actually the ground, making his back hurt like a bitch. He felt groggy, tired beyond belief, and his eyes hurt. It was like whenever he tried to increase the size of Shinra Tensei, only to have his eyes feel a sharp pain instead. He could still see, the sun was staring at him from around a 4:00pm position.

"Urrgh," he groaned, rolling over. As he opened an eye, he saw Jiraiya sitting down, holding a pot over a cackling bonfire. It appeared like his sensei was making a pot of his famous stew... _again._ Naruto couldn't help but wish for a chance to eat Ichiraku's ramen. Or even instant ramen. Anything with the word ramen in it was game. Thinking about food emphasized how hungry he was after his ordeal.

"Ah, Naruto, you're awake."

"Oji-san," Naruto murmured back. He sat up, holding his throbbing head. "W-what happened?"

"Chakra exhaustion." At the confused look the boy seemed intent on always showing, Jiraiya continued, "you used too much chakra, so there wasn't enough to flow to your vital organs. This usually happens when you try to overdo a jutsu without practice, or if you use too many jutsus. It could have been a lot worse, but that furry friend of yours gives you practically unlimited supplemental chakra reserves. In other words, you're an idiot, but a goddamn lucky idiot." He ignored his foul language around the kid, no doubt he heard worse around Konoha's streets. Especially from some of the more... colorful... people that likely lived in his apartment complex.

"I absorbed that chakra?" He mentioned, still unclear about that.

"Yeah. Some wierd Rinnegan jutsu I'm guessing, which probably means that you unlocked a new path."

"Preta path," Naruto answered. "If I absorbed chakra, how come I had chakra exhaustion?"

"Beats me," Jiraiya replied in an uninterested tone, "Three years training Nagato, and the Rinnegan is still a complete mystery to me. You'll have to figure this out on your own. Rabbit stew?" He handed Naruto a bowl of the stuff.

"Thanks."

As they ate, Naruto tried to reason out why he didn't get any chakra from his technique. Lets be honest, Naruto wasn't the most skilled in the concept of theory, so he scoured his brain to find the answer. There had to be a reason, there always was. The more he looked, the further away the answer grew, it jut didn't make sense.

Then it hit him. All the sudden, it was so clear. He had tried to pull _too much_ chakra into his system, overloading it. An odd concept, true, but he kept thinking about it while he ate, and he couldn't find a flaw in his simple theory. The human body wasn't supposed to house two, much less three, types of chakra. He didn't have the control to keep the new chakra from, in large amounts, conflicting with his already existing chakra. Maybe, he could build up a tolerance to the foreign chakra, and he could fully absorb larger jutsu.

As he ate, quiet on the outside, his thoughts drifted from paths to the Akatsuki. They wanted _him?_ No, they wanted the Kyuubi, but why would anyone want the Kyuubi? It was only good for destruction and death. Oh, wait, he realized, S-rank criminals probably wanted destruction and death.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya's thoughts were also on the Akatsuki. First off, he tried to puzzle out who could be the leader of such a powerful organization. It couldn't be Orochimaru, his teammate couldn't lead something like this. It would be too out in the open, where the possibility of betrayal existed within the members. No, the snake summoner like to hide in the shadows, waiting until things were just right to orchestrate something big. It wasn't his style to lead a bunch of ragtag supercriminals.

Then their was the impossible discening of their goals. It seemed their leader was not after the Rinnegan, but the Kyuubi. It made him think, they could likely be after other Bijuu as well, especially since Naruto was guarded by a Sannin. This would be vital to tell his Sensei, Naruto could be in far more danger than they anticipated. Taki's jinchuuriki might not be safe either.

The last was Uchiha Itachi. A genius, a strong genius. Strong against Jiraiya's weak point, genjutsu. So why was the young teen so adamant that they retreat? What did that accomplish for them? And how come Itachi didn't even _try_ to kill Jiraiya when he 'captured' the Sannin (not like he could have died from that anyways, his escape was done well)? The man even went and mentioned that their goal was the Kyuubi and that they were going to fight more people. Where those people jinchuuriki as well? It would make sense, Bijuu were a powerful military asset and probably expensive in a ransome. Or their power could be harnessed, though few people could do that. Still, they were S-ranked, who knew what they were capable of?

He still couldn't shake his mind from this. If his assumption was true, it was almost like Itachi was trying to warn them. This bothered him greatly. A traitor and a killer, trying to help keep the world in balance? Insane. He would need to find out more in the future.

"Naruto," he said finally.

"Yes Jiraiya-oji?"

"I'm going to step up your training. We can work on taijutsu more often later, when your muscles develop. I need to teach you some basic ninjutsu to protect yourself. Also, you need to figure out how to use those paths of the Rinnegan and discover how they fit together."

Normally, Naruto would jump for joy at the idea. Taijutsu was boring, and Jiraiya told him he'd need to be many years older to match anyone who is already a jounin, just due to strength and experience. Even if his form was perfect. He always wanted to try ninjutsu, and he felt as if the fact that he had all five affinities meant he should become an expert in jutsu in general. Unfortunately, he didn't have the energy to express his internal gratefulness. His mind was also on grave issues, distracting from the true elation the boy normally would feel at this.

"I only know Suiton, Katon, and Doton, so we'll eventually need to stop in Konoha and get someone to start you on Raiton and Fuuton." After a glance at Naruto's unenthusiastic face, he added, "I know how you feel about Konoha. You'll get over it, and you already have blocked out most of that hate. In fact, we are leaving today for Konoha."

"Why?"

"To tell the old monkey what's happening in the world. We can pick up some tutoring while we're there. Jutsu scrolls are way overrated, and they often get you doing the technique completely wrong, killing or hurting yourself. The shinobi world has few shortcuts." Jiraiya didn't like that people went out and _bought_ jutsu. It was dangerous, reckless, and did not give anyone the full capacity or understanding of the technique. It's not too hard to receive instructions from an actual person, if only for a few hours, then spend a lot of time practicing.

"And after that?"

"I'll probably take you to Takigakure, though I have no idea how we're supposed to get in. Maybe Sensei will help."

"Hmm, alright." Naruto placed an empty bowl next to Jiraiya and laid back on the ground. They were both exhausted, and would need to eventually go back to Tanzaku Gai and book a hotel. For now, they could enjoy a relaxing rest in the afternoon.

With an enthusiastic grin , Jiraiya said, "I hope you don't mind if I give you an early birthday present."

"Present?" Naruto replied. He never really received many presents when he lived in Konoha. Much less an early one. He assumed it would be dumb, since the Sandaime always got him lame textbooks or a new set of clothes.

"Yeah. Well, I'll give you something special in two days, but I thought you'd want something to make travelling easier and less lame when you're not training."

"It's kinda hard to meditate and stop gravity while I'm walking."

"See?" He rummaged though a bag that he summoned from that giant scroll while he was talking. "What I'm going to give you is a copy of my most prized work. Not really anyone actually bothered to consider it, they thought it was stupid, a dumb visionary ideal. It kinda reminds me of you though."

"Me?" Naruto asked, not understanding. He really hoped the man wasn't getting him smut. It took him the whole of ten seconds to know he wanted nothing to do with that.

"Ah, here we go!" Jiraiya slammed the book on the grass with a lound thump.

"_The Tale of an Utterly Gutsy Shinobi_," Naruto read aloud, looking at the dull grey book with a dark green binding. "It doesn't look like that other crap you write."

Jiraiya sighed. "You're too young to appreciate it for what it's worth. Anyways, this book is full of action, adventure, and some of my hopes for the world from way back twenty years ago. It may seem mature for you now, but you've seen plenty of what people are capable of. Oh, by the way, the main character's name is Naruto. This copy belonged to your father." Jiraiya turned around and began fiddling with his large scroll, rewriting some seals and resealing the bowls.

"Naruto..." the blond muttered. Was he named after the character in this book? This belonged to his father? So Jiraiya must have been close with the man?

"Oh, you might as well start it now. We won't be travelling back to Tanzaku Gai for a few hours, when we're all rested up."

Naruto looked at the binding, turning it over, examining his present. Eventually, he decided to open it up to the first page. It couldn't be all ther bad, right? His godfather was a smart man, a brilliant shinobi, so he probably wasn't that bad a writer if he claimed to be good. He looked at the stiff page. There was a note in ink, a piece of paper inserted in addition to the pages of the book. Someone wrote this in after the book was published.

_From Jiraiya, _

_To my student Namikaze Minato: I hope you like this present for you and Kushina. I heard that your first one kind of got lost when you were moving into the Hokage mansion, but no matter, I can always print more. Not that I need to, with stacks of copies that no one read sitting around. Not many have a true appreciation for the word 'peace' these days, eh my student? You'll change that, I'm sure, with your genius and remarkable people skills that I can't hold a candle to. _

_I really have hopes for you to carry out Naruto's actions in the book and put a stop to the cycle of hatred. While on the subject, congratulations to you and Kushina on your child. I head from her that you plan to name him after the main character. I gotta say, I'm beyond honored. I wish you luck on both the family and the hat._

"NARUTO!" Jiraiya shouted, realizing that they boy had looked inside. "Don't... read that paper..." he sighed, facepalming. How could he have been so stupid?

The Kyuubi jinchuuriki looked at his godfather, tears welling up in his eyes. He understood why Jiraiya and the Sandaime hid this from him. The man had enemies, and Naruto couldn't live his life in his father's great shadow either. It didn't mean he could contain his emotions.

The tears started streaming down his face as he let it all out.

"M-my father was the Yondaime!"

* * *

**A/N: I hope I caught you guys off guard there at the end. I enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hoped you liked reading it. Not much in the times of time going by, but the plot is progressing, and the truth of Uzumaki Naruto is finally coming out. The fight was probably much cooler in my head -.-**

**Oh well, hope you liked. Don't forget to review!**

**Jiraiya out.**


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